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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

K-Dub's Home Run

Firstly I must admit I have been a Kendra Wilkinson fan since season one of The Girls Next Door, where she was featured as one of Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends. Furthermore, I will totally admit I found her positively enchanting and felt she offered something a bit more fun and real on the show. I didn’t watch her and feel like I was watching something scripted and annoying. To be completely open and honest here, I pretty much had loathed all reality television until watching The Girls Next Door. Now while I can’t say what it was exactly that pulled me in to start with, I can say I quickly grew fond of all three girls. Though, Wilkinson was always a personal favorite on it. So I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when she came out with her spin-off series simply titled, Kendra. All of that alone, would likely make the impression that I would simply just eat up anything she put out into the world. I however, was almost nervous about actually reading her life story despite how excited I was when it was released back in July of 2010 – and all the way leading up until I was finally able to attain a copy recently. The problem was that no matter how ‘real’ she came across to me on her shows, in interviews and how much I had grown to simply adore her – there was a part of me that had honestly been prepared to read a lot of fluff and silliness.

Pleasantly though my worries of a fluffy memoir written by a reality star were squashed right down as soon as I cracked open the book! I could hardly set the thing down as I divulged into the bravery Kendra displays in her first novel ‘Sliding Into Home’ – written with Jon Warech. I felt she really showcased a great deal of openness as she really got into some of the obstacles she had to overcome in her life, including her drug addictions that started at a rather early age. A few more note worthy obstacles include issues over her absent father, a perverted teacher among a number of others who were just discouraging and a few bad eggs she got mixed up with along the way. Wilkinson also openly touches on how she ran away from home for a long period of time and what happened when she returned home begging to be accepted back. Throughout the book Kendra really does successfully in my opinion display more layers of herself to readers, that is and has been perhaps missed out on for small screen audiences.

Naturally there are a couple downfalls in the book, though I would love to be a completely biased as a fan I couldn’t help but notice the severe lack in details over certain topics. Granted I give her credit for being more open in such a big way, than most people are in the privacy of their own home with friends and family. It is just felt that there was more room for detail then given surrounding certain events in her life; for example how she adjusted to life as a wife and mother initially. She does however give good insight surrounding her early days at the Playboy mansion, along with some behind the scenes of The Girls Next Door and the sneaky courtship that took place with her now husband, NFL star Hank Baskett. Another small downer though for me, was something that I can only presume is more of a misprint then anything else. It seems a word is just missing completely out of some sentences in the book. It’s not many at all, I wouldn’t even say a handful, but I noticed at least a few.

Over all I really loved the book. I loved getting as much information as she was willing to give and one of the perks to reading it, as a longtime fan of hers, is that she writes in the format she speaks. I totally felt like she was just sitting down and telling her story – heck, in certain parts one might even be able to imagine that infamous laugh being inserted. I also quite enjoyed the nineteen photos shared – though the pages containing pictures do seem a bit randomly inserted in the middle of chapter thirteen. Regardless, Kendra Wilkinson’s first book is definitely one I recommend to others – and I don’t just mean to other fans. I honestly do believe this is the sort of book that can help people understand the blonde bombshell a little more. It provides plenty of insight about her life and how she has gone from crazy party girl to wife and mother.

2 comments:

Thank you for the book review on Kendra. I love to read biographies and was hesitant to give her a chance, even though she seems like an interesting woman. I was aware of her wild years and her relationship with Hugh, but I was interested in knowing the full story on her life.

Thank you very much for reading and commenting Stacie! I’m really glad to know you enjoyed the review and hope you do future posts as well. :D I also hope you enjoy this book as much I did. There is a lot more to Kendra then meets the eye if you ask me and I think her first book helps show that.